“They’re out back in the pasture picking wildflowers.”
“Oh.” I realized I hadn’t taken a breath in since the car.
“She’s going to love you. They both will. I promise.” He bent down and softly kissed my cheek before taking the basket from me. “Now, let me show you around.”
The exposed logs were absolutely gorgeous. “Was this a home you also moved and refurbished?”
“Yup. This was the one that started it all, and it’s still my most ambitious project of them all. I figured if I could do this, I could do any size.”
I nodded, looking around the large two-story foyer. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.” He held the basket in one arm and laced his free hand with mine. “The kitchen is my favorite space and is down this hall.” He led me down a long hallway that had several rows of family photographs, but I stopped when I saw one of Kyle and me from when I was sixteen.
“I didn’t know you had this photo.”
He smiled and nodded. “Right before I left.”
“We looked so young.” I shook my head, admiring the photo I wished I had. We were on top of a large boulder. I was sitting in front of Kyle, and he had his arms looped around my shoulders. Pinecones were piled next to us.
“You still do.” He smiled and squeezed my hand as I stared at the picture.
I looked so happy in the photo. My stomach clenched at the thought of what happened only a few weeks after my cousins took this picture. I shoved down the unexpected lump in my throat and looked at a photo of my cousins on the same boulder, goofing off.
“I’ll have to get a copy of these.”
“Totally.” He pulled me down the hall and into the kitchen.
“Wow.”
White marble counters wrapped over a large waterfall island that seated at least four people. Pine cabinets warmed up the space and glass subway tiles made up the backsplash. Several hanging pendants over the island glowed brightly. If I were to pick out my perfect kitchen this would be it. Windows overlooking the pasture that Kyle had mentioned earlier brought in ample light. There was a large dining table in front of a set of French doors leading to an oversized patio.
“I can see why you left Silver Ridge for this.” I smiled as he put the basket on the marble island.
“It feels like home.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Would you like anything to drink?”
“Water would be great.”
Kyle grabbed a glass and filled it up with ice and filtered water. He motioned for me to follow him down another hall, which I did. “This is the study. I spend a lot of time here watching Netflix.”
“Is this where you were when I ripped you away from Wynona?” I teased.
“It is,” he said solemnly. “But I’m all caught up.”
The room was surprisingly bright and cheery considering dark wainscoting wrapped around the bottom half of the walls, and bookshelves anchored the top half of the room. A leather sectional took up the far corner overlooking the flat screen television.
“We’ll go back through the kitchen, and I’ll show you the family room and one of the guestrooms.” He turned and whispered, “And hopefully tonight, I can show you the master bedroom.”
Just the thought of getting to spend the night with Kyle got me all turned around, and I was grateful that he hauled me out of the study toward the other parts of the home. The family room attached to the kitchen, and while it wasn’t an open concept, it felt connected. An ivory microsuede couch and loveseat took up one-half of the room, along with a rustic coffee table that was the size of my kitchen table, but what took my breath away was the large stone fireplace and an aged timber alcove ceiling.
“Beautiful, Kyle.”
“It was a real labor of love.”
“I can tell.”
“That’s not fair, mom. It doesn’t count.” I heard a teenage girl’s voice echo through the kitchen, and my stomach immediately twisted into a million knots.
Kyle bent down and kissed my cheek before giving my hand a quick squeeze and letting go.
“You never said we had to come back the same way we went,” a woman’s voice teased. She sounded like she was trying to catch her breath, and I glanced at Kyle, who nodded for us to move into the kitchen.
“Ooh, what’s this?” the woman continued.
“I don’t know, but it smells amazing.”
Kyle led me into the kitchen and I saw two women staring at the basket I brought. From this vantage point, I couldn’t actually tell who was who, except that the one on the left was leaning against the island trying to catch her breath.
“Well, while you two recover, I want you to meet Brooke. She just arrived a few minutes ago.”
“Finally,” the one on the right said, spinning around.
Definitely Abigail.
Her bright eyes took me in and she grinned as her mom turned around, and she was just as gorgeous as Abigail.
“Hi, Abigail.” I smiled, and she waved.
“It’s so nice to meet you. It probably seemed like a weird ultimatum,” her mom said. “I’m Clara, by the way.”
“Not weird at all. I completely understand,” I told her.
Her blonde hair was swept into a loose ponytail with a few wisps hanging down.
“I was hoping my husband could come, but he has to head out on Monday for a meeting in Des Moines, Iowa so he’s preparing all weekend. His name is Paul.”
“I’ve heard so many wonderful things about all of you.”
Clara flicked her gaze at Kyle and quickly brought it back to me.
“Well, we’re lucky enough to have a wonderful little girl.”
“Mom, seriously, I’m almost sixteen.” She crossed her arms and leaned back against the granite counter.
“So,” I began, “my aunt and I put together a little basket of products I thought you might enjoy from her farm.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Clara said, touching her collar.
“I love getting to put together baskets. It was truly my pleasure.” I walked toward the basket as Clara and Abigail began unwrapping the cellophane.
“Oh, my gosh. I love candles.” Abigail looked at her dad and then at me. “My mom does too.”
“Like mom, like daughter.” Clara chuckled, pulling at the candle Abigail was admiring. She unscrewed the lid and took in a deep breath. “It smells incredible. This is so generous of you.” She searched through more of the goodies. “And bath salts, soaps, tea, cookies? It feels like Christmas.”
Kyle came up behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder.
“We’ll definitely enjoy everything in here. Thank you.” Clara smiled and hugged her daughter, who eyed me suspiciously.
“So you knew my dad when he was a kid?” she asked, propping her hand on her hip.
I wasn’t exactly sure what all she knew, and being that her mom was standing right next to her, I wasn’t exactly sure where this conversation was headed. I had to remind myself that this was the same girl who also bestowed lots of good advice to her father.
“I sure did. He used to hang out with my cousins, and since I was an only child—”
“I am too.” She nodded as if that made us instantly kindred spirits.
“Yeah, so I took any opportunity to hang out with my cousins. It just so happened your dad kept appearing at their doorstep every summer.”
“Why was that, Dad?” Abigail asked.
I turned to look at Kyle and had to hide my smile. He looked genuinely uncomfortable.
“Well, the first summer my brothers and I went to the Harlens because my parents were in Europe, and I enjoyed myself so much I just kept going back.”
Clara smiled and nodded.
“Did my dad ever get into trouble?”
I laughed and glanced at Kyle, who was throwing me dagger-filled looks.
“My cousins caused more trouble than Kyle ever did.”
“Uncle Joel said dad was a troublemaker.”
Abigail laughed. “Although I doubt back in your day there was much trouble you could possibly get into.”
Clara’s cheeks reddened, and I had to move toward the water dispenser to hide my laugh.
Abigail came up beside me, which surprised me.
“Hey, thanks for telling your dad about coming to the charity event and for changing your schedule. That was really nice of you.”
She shrugged. “Sometimes, I’m not sure how my dad has made it so long. It’s like the most obvious answers are right in front of him and yet he’s determined to make things complicated.”
“Hey, now,” Kyle warned with a twinkle in his eyes.
“You know it’s true, Dad.”
“She has a point,” Clara agreed, chuckling.
“I think I’m a little outnumbered here.”
“Should I have brought you a spa basket too?” I teased and Abigail giggled.
“He does get manicures and pedicures with me,” she confessed.
“Abigail.” This time it was Clara who sent the warning, but tears of laughter filled her eyes.
“I’ll be up in my room,” Abigail announced and took off toward the stairs.
“It’s so much fun to raise a fifteen-year old,” Clara whispered, once Abigail was out of earshot.
“It’s a real blast,” Kyle said. “And I only get them because Abigail wants to go get her nails done.”
“Whatever you say.” I held up my hands and shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t say a word.”
“I didn’t either,” Clara teased. “But what about those days you’ve gotten facials with her.”
“The air is dry up in the mountains,” he said flatly, walking to the oven to pull out the pie.
“He has to impress the ladies,” I teased.
“Lady,” Clara confirmed, winking.
Kyle had moved on to opening the fridge. He removed a bowl of marinated chicken.
“I’ll be out grilling while you two chew me to shreds.” He sighed.
“You know you’re happier than all get out that we get along.” Clara pulled out a stool, sat down, and took another sniff of the candle.
“The pie looks amazing. Even better than the Harlens,” I told him.
He spun around, tying an apron around his waist. “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have dinner to make.”
Clara and I couldn’t help but chuckle as he shuffled through the kitchen and made his way outside to the grill.
“He’s a really wonderful man, Brooke,” Clara said, tapping the stool next to hers. “I couldn’t have asked for a better co-parent than Kyle when it comes to raising Abigail.”
“In the short time we’ve reconnected, I can tell he loves you all very much.” I drew in a breath. “I have to confess, I was a nervous wreck thinking about meeting you and Abigail. I don’t ever want to disappoint you or Abigail, and I certainly never want to get in the way of your family.”
She smiled and a flash of sadness flitted through her gaze. “Kyle is loyal and extremely dedicated to a fault. While I went on and found a partner in life, he never would let himself. He focused solely on Abigail. Not that I think that’s a bad thing, but she’s going to be leaving for college before he realizes it. She worries about her dad, and I don’t blame her.” She put the candle back in the basket. “I’ll tell you that everything he’s told you is true and then some. He truly only had eyes for you and what happened between us was…”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to tell me. It’s personal and brought an amazing gift.”
Tears filled Clara’s eyes, and she nodded. “Precisely.” A few seconds of silence sat between us. “Do you want children, Brooke?”
“Someday.”
“Abigail will be my only one unless we adopt, and I think we might once we get Abigail to college.”
My eyes connected with hers. Kyle didn’t know this, or if he did, he never mentioned it.
“She’s an extra special gift.” She dabbed a stray tear. “Anyway, I really wanted to meet you, but not because I was worried about you being in Abigail’s life. I know Kyle well enough to know he would never introduce someone into his life he didn’t trust implicitly. I wanted to meet you to let you know that Kyle was madly in love with you, and that love has never died. I tried to get him to contact you over the years, but he wouldn’t do it until Abigail was older, but once Abigail found the letters there was no stopping her. She’s relentless. A romantic at heart.”
“What Kyle has told me she’s come up with for advice has been stunning,” I agreed.
“She reads nonstop. She loves all the classics and can find the romance in anything.” Clara smiled. “We’re going to be in for a rough couple of years ahead.”
“I’m not sure it gets any easier older.” I smiled and glanced at Kyle, who was turning the chicken.
“Honey, when you find the right guy, it gets as easy as waking up in the morning and falling asleep.” She clutched my hand. “You have that with him, don’t you?”
“So far.”
“It’s either that way or it’s not.” She smiled. “Give him a chance.”
I shook my head, feeling like my world was finally starting to settle into the place I’d always secretly wanted and never knew how to get.
“Thank you for being so accepting.”
“That should be my line to you.” She smiled. “But I know Abigail wanted to talk to you alone. Why don’t you go up to her room? Hers is the first on the left and has a poster of some reality star or rock star. I can’t keep up.” She laughed and my chest tightened all over again.
Things had been going so well. What if I screwed it up by saying the wrong thing to Abigail or reveal something about her dad that will make him want to kill me?
“Okay, I’d love to.”
“Kyle was right. You can’t lie on your best day.” She chuckled. “She’ll be good to you. She knows how much you meant to her dad, and she’s still in the stage where she idolizes him. I’m sure that will change once she hears “no” a few more times about dating, but we’ll take what we can get.”
I slid off the stool. “Then wish me luck.”
“Good luck.” She waved and went back to the basket.
I walked down the hallway toward the staircase, and my heart started hammering out of my chest. By the time I got to the top of the stairs, my head was nearly spinning. I spotted the door Clara was talking about. It was propped open about six inches, but I didn’t see Abigail. Instead, I heard her.
“Yeah. A complete moron. I don’t know what he sees in her.” Abigail laughed. “Just another meaningless relationship for the books. Someday he’ll figure it out.”
Her words cut into me like a million stabs to the heart. The one thing I’d never do was get in the way of Kyle and his daughter. I’d even mentally prepared myself for Clara to hate me, and if that happened, I’d somehow figure out a way to work through it.
But not this.
I would never allow myself to be a sore spot for either of them.
I would never come between them.
“I know, right? And then she has the nerve to act like nothing else she’s done to him matters. It makes me sick, but I guarantee you it won’t last long. I totally guessed wrong on this one though.”
Even though my heart felt like it had been torn down the middle, all I could do was make it through dinner and leave. I couldn’t let Kyle know anything was wrong because in his eyes nothing could be wrong. I didn’t want him asking his daughter about what I’d overheard. Everything just had to go back to how it was before he reappeared in my life.
I backed away slowly, pushing down the tears, and taking a deep breath in as I crept down the stairs.
This was the right thing to do.
It really was.
Chapter Twenty-One
The hurt literally made every bone and muscle ache as I thought about Kyle. I’d managed to get through the dinner. Abigail wa
s pleasant, but she seemed nervous and distracted. Clara seemed blissfully ignorant, which was a godsend, and Kyle completely understood why I didn’t want to stay the night since Clara and Abigail were there.
It made the exit easy, but the drive home absolutely agonizing.
I’d let myself fall in love with Kyle North again.
Exactly what I said I wasn’t going to do, but it became impossible to fight the urges to be with him. He was so kind and patient.
And best of all…
Or maybe worst of all, Kyle North made me feel safe.
I clutched the steering wheel and focused on the dark road ahead. I needed to get home and in bed. I glanced at the clock. It wasn’t looking good for making the last ferry to Hound Island, but if I could at least get to Fireweed, I could stay at a hotel.
I felt the first of many tears sting my eyes, and I cursed under my breath.
I was not going to cry over a guy again.
Especially this guy again.
How could loving him hurt so much every single time?
I thought back to Roger and Brent and how little they did for me. I’d have more of a reaction encountering…
Well, an opossum in the middle of the night. At least that would get the adrenaline going.
I let out a groan mixed with a cry. Why did I let myself fall so easily for him again?
Why didn’t I at least wait to fall until after I met Abigail?
No.
Why didn’t I stick to my friendship-only plan with him?
What surprised me more than anything was that I’d let myself fall so quickly for his family. I wanted to be a part of it. I could picture myself helping Clara or listening to Abigail’s boy problems. I imagined meeting Clara’s husband on a trip to Idaho with Kyle.
And that was precisely the problem. I’d let myself imagine with Kyle.
I never imagined with any of the other men.
But that was because there was nothing worth imagining. I was only in the moment.
With Kyle, the world felt new.
I squeezed the steering wheel again and let out a guttural moan. I was so glad to have the comfort of my car. If this had happened in my apartment, Lila and Jerry would have come running up the stairs from all the bellowing.
Irresistible Love at Silver Falls (Island County Series Book 7) Page 17